Related papers: Birman-Hilden theory for 3-manifolds

A function from configuration space to moduli space of surface may induce a homomorphism between their fundamental groups which are braid groups and mapping class groups of surface, respectively. This map $\phi: B_k \rightarrow…

Let $S$ and $X$ be two connected topological surfaces without boundary, and assume that $S$ is either of infinite type or has negative Euler characteristic. In this paper, we prove that if $p:S\rightarrow X$ is a fully ramified branched…

We say that a cover of surfaces S -> X has the Birman--Hilden property if the subgroup of the mapping class group of X consisting of mapping classes that have representatives that lift to S embeds in the mapping class group of S modulo the…

We introduce and analyze the characteristic foliation induced by a contact structure on a branched surface, in particular a branched standard spine of a 3-manifold. We extend to (fairly general) singular foliations of branched surfaces the…

We consider finite-sheeted, regular, possibly branched covering spaces of compact surfaces with boundary and the associated liftable and symmetric mapping class groups. In particular, we classify when either of these subgroups coincides…

We characterize the cyclic branched covers of the 2-sphere where every homeomorphism of the sphere lifts to a homeomorphism of the covering surface. This answers a question that appeared in an early version of the erratum of Birman and…

We study global injectivity of proper branched coverings defined on the Euclidean $n$-ball in the case when the branch set is compact. In particular we show that such mappings are homeomorphisms when $n=3$ or when the branch set is empty.…

We show that branched coverings of surfaces of large enough genus arise as characteristic maps of braided surfaces that is, lift to embeddings in the product of the surface with $\mathbb R^2$. This result is nontrivial already for…

This article grew out of an effort to understand the smooth mapping class groups of certain 4-manifolds in a geometric manner. We prove a smooth analog of the Birman-Hilden theorem for manifolds that admit a hyperk\"ahler structure. This…

A canonical branched covering over each sufficiently good simplicial complex is constructed. Its structure depends on the combinatorial type of the complex. In this way, each closed orientable 3-manifold arises as a branched covering over…

This paper gives a proof that the universal cover of a closed 3-manifold built from three $\pi_1$-injective handlebodies is homeomorphic to $\mathbb R^3$. This construction is an extension to handlebodies of the conditions for gluing of…

Let $M$ be complete nonpositively curved Riemannian manifold of finite volume whose fundamental group $\Gamma$ does not contain a finite index subgroup which is a product of infinite groups. We show that the universal cover $\tilde M$ is a…

We show that there are Haken 3-manifolds whose fundamental groups do not satisfy the engulfing property. In particular one can construct a pi_1-injective immersion of a surface into a graph manifold which does not factor through any proper…

In this paper we study the homeomorphisms of the disk that are liftable with respect to a simple branched covering. Since any such homeomorphism maps the branch set of the covering onto itself and liftability is invariant up to isotopy…

We consider the subspace of the homology of a covering space spanned by lifts of simple closed curves. Our main result is the existence of unbranched covers of surfaces where this is a proper subspace. More generally, for a fixed finite…

We solve the isomorphism problem for the whole class of Lins-Mandel gems (graphs encoded manifolds). We also present certain homeomorphisms of branched cyclic coverings of two-bridge hyperbolic links. As a consequence, we prove that, in in…

We study the existence of branched coverings between closed $3$-manifolds, with emphasis on universal knots and links. We prove that the only closed $3$-manifolds that admit a universal link are spherical. Furthermore, we distinguish…

One method for obtaining every closed orientable 3-manifold is as branched covering of the 3-sphere over a link. There is a classical topological result showing that the minimun possible number of sheets in the covering is three. In this…

We study the existence of geometrically controlled branched covering maps from $\mathbb R^3$ to open $3$-manifolds or to decomposition spaces $\mathbb S^3/G$, and from $\mathbb S^3/G$ to $\mathbb S^3$.

We prove an additivity property for the normalized Seiberg-Witten invariants with respect to the universal abelian cover of those 3-manifolds, which are obtained via negative rational Dehn surgeries along connected sum of algebraic knots.…